Air brake



April I6, 1940K c. A. CAMPBELL AIR BRAKE Filed Aug. 31, 1939 WN ww NN .oN N\ um mw m mm N Nm. www. Wm. sm www QN wm w v Q mv Nw .Q mh A N .mx Nh Nw mw h S ma. mb 5J n Flc m\\ E Nb l mw um mv \W b* 5v 9W m m f ,m m, kh, mv

Patented Apr. 16, 1940 Charles A. CampbelLgWatertown, NQ Y., assignor to The New York Air Brake Company, a vco1- poration of New Jersey PATENT lomer.

Application August 31, 1939,` serial No. 292,922 comms. (o1. 30s- 1) This invention relates` to vent valves of the type described and claimed in my prior vPatent No. 2,069,914, issued February 9, 1937. `Valves of this type have gone into quite extensive use as the emergency vent' valve located on the locomotive to assist in venting the brake pipe in response to an emergency application initiated by the'engineers brake valve or the conductors valve. l

Because of theirmounting on the locomotive and the fact that'they are necessarily located at a point in the brake pipe adjacent the main reservoir and the engineers brake valve, these vent valves are subject in a considerable degree to the adverse eiects of dust and vmoisture which pass through the compressor and the main reservoir to the brake pipe.

The performance of thevalve described in the prior patent has been satisfactory, and the precent invention is directed to refinements designed to extend the interval between cleaningl and in- K spection operations.

One feature ofthe invention involves means to prevent the entrance of moisture into the working space above the emergency piston with the attendant inhibition of entrance of moisture into thequick action chamber below the piston. This arrangement involves the useI of pads which engage the strike pins usedr to unseat the emergency valve. lated feature, therefore, is the provision of a self-guiding spring structure to seat the pilot Valve and the main emergency valve. Since the spring is self-aligning, cocking of the valves and lateral thrust on the strike pins `are avoided.

The invention will now be described' with referencev to the accompanying drawing, in

which.

Figure v1 is an axial section through `the supporting bracket and the emergency vent valve.

Figure 2 is an enlarged view chiefly in section showing the construction of the moisture excluding means associated with a strike pin.

l maintaining type.

I ning conditions.

An important reat the top of member II and serves `as a seat and aligning means for `the main valve spring, laterdescribed. j A g l The port 1 is of conical form and inclined slightly upward so that the margin I4 is at least as high as the edge I5 of the pipe 8.' Thepurpose of this is to prevent'y Water from draining from the brake pipe into the housing II as'it could do inthe Structure ,ofl the prior-patent, above-identified. Thus, any water which may escape the drain cups onv ,the drain-pipe will tend to accumulate in the brake pipe, and at any ,rate 'will not bev drained directly to the vent chamber of the emergency Valve. l f

The same idea is reflected in the conical'fo'rm of the strainer I6' and in the inclination of the bottom of the valve chamber at II and in other details of form clearly shown in the drawing,

all of which are worked out to inhibit accumulation of water in the casing II under any run- Thev main exhaust port i8 leads directly to atmosphere. Its outer endis pipe-threaded as indicated at I9 to permit insertion of an ordi-` naryfpipe plug in the event it is desired to put the vent valve out of` service.: The inner end of theV passage is provided with a horizontal `valve seat 2| which takes the form of a non-corrosive bushing pressed to place. The level of this valve seat is quite high relatively to the pipe; It is practically' on the same horizontal level as the top of the passage 1.

Centered in the top yof the quick-action chamber element I2 is a cylinder bushing 22 with pendant yoke 23 arranged to carry the piston stem guide 24' on which is threaded the cup nut 25 to house the spring plunger 26 and spring 21. Working in the cylinder bushing 22. is a piston 28, with packing ring 29, normal charging port 3l, restricted charging port 32 and guide stem 33, all essentially identical in form and function with similar parts in my prior patent. The same is true of the sealing ring 34 carried by the bushing 22 and the coacting gasket 35 carried by the piston 28. The parts indicated at 35, 31, comprise a piston stem lubricator for which no novelty is here claimed.

The piston 28 carries three Vertical strike pins 38 which are parallel with stem 33 and `consequently parallel with the direction of mol tion of the piston. They are symmetrically arranged, forming in plan, an equilateral triangle.

They7 pass through openingsl in the bottom of the housing II. prevent the passage of water through the open-k ings from the valve-chamber in housing II to the space above the pistonA 28; This structure is shown on a larger scale in Figure 2 to which reference should be made. i

Pressed into the three openings in the bottom Special means are provided tol of the housing Ilv are bushings 39 which have slender upward tubular extensions 4I. These are so located as to receive freely the strike pins 38. The bushings 39 are counterbored each to receive an oil-soaked felt packing disc 42. The three discs surrounding the three pins are retained by a larger oil-soaked pad 43 of felt` which is retained by an underlying retainer plate 44. This is held in place by a removable spring snap ring 45 which enters an undercut groove provided to receive it. Y

The strike pins 38 are shouldered at 46 and on their reduced end portions are mounted the guards 41. These have pendant tubular skirts 48 and each skirt 48 surounds and is spaced from' a corresponding up-standing tube 4l. The upper end of 'the guards 41, i. e., the portion indicated at 49, serves as the shoulder which unseats the pilot valve, while the offset at the skirt performs a similar function as tothe main valve.

The upper reduced end of each strike pin 38 Y enters through an opening in a corresponding extensions of the guards 41.

' The pilot valve-takes the form of a disc 55 with a gasket 55 retained at its center by a screw. The disc 55 has wings 51 which are apertured to receive with a free'slding iit the upper ends of the strike pins 38,

i ton unseats the mainvalve ring.

On the upper face of the valve disc 55 is a l spherical boss 58 which fits a socket in the spring seat 59. The spring seat is frictionally retained in the lower end of a coil compression spring 5| of conical form. The upper end of this spring 5l is frictionally retained in a seat 52, formed in the removable cap I3.

The function ofthe parts 4|, 48 is to inhibit the passage of water or water spray into contact with the strike pins 38. Ii any water does pass the telescopingtubular guard members, it will be arrested, or substantially completely arrested, by the oil-soaked pads 42 and 43. Since the usual breathing action takes place through these oil-soaked pads, the air will pick up a certain amount of oil with the result that the piston and its packing ring will be lubricated. Since the strike pins pass through the felt pads and are rather closely embraced thereby, it is important that the piston be guided quite accurately. This guiding iseffected by the stem 33 and side thrust by spring 6| must be avoided.

It will be observed that the strike pins center the pilot valve 55 and the main valve 5l and guide them in their opening and closing movements, the parts being so dimensioned that the pilot is unseated rst as the piston moves upward, after which continued motion of the pis- By using a spring 6l of conical form in conjunction with a self-aligning spring seat 58, the lspring becomes self-centering without any external guiding means, and because of the universal mounting ofthe spring seat 59, will never exercise any canting action on either valve.

The importance of free action of thespring and the valve is intensified bythe use of the pro- 'collection of rust, scale and dust is minimized.

Despite the fact that the strike pins are more closely confined than they were in the prior,v

structure, the improved spring arrangement and the general coordination of the moving parts produces a valve which operates more freely and certainly -than did the valve of the prior patent. It is to these improved features that the present application is directed.

What is claimed is:

1. The combination in a vent valve of means enclosing a valve chamber in communicationwith a brake pipe; avent valve device controlling venting flow from said chamber; a valve actuator comprising a quick-action chamber and piston,v

the piston being mounted below the valve chamber and subject on its upper face to valve charnber pressure, the piston including strike pins' for opening the vent valve device; and -means for protecting the piston comprising a partition separating the valve chamber from the space above the piston and having ports for the strike pins,

telescopic sleeves spaced from each other and forming drainage arresting barriers between said partition and pins; and fibrous lubricant bearing packing, pervious to air, forming moisture resisting seals between said pins and partition.

2. The combination defined in claim l in which the valve chamber is so connected with the brake pipe that water tends to drain from the chamber to the brake pipe.

3. The combination in a vent valve of means enclosing a valve chamber in communication with a brake pipe; ra Vent valve device of the vertically movable poppet type controlling ventving flow from said chamber; a valve actuator comprising a quick-action piston and associated cylinder and quick-action chamber, the piston being mounted below the valve chamber and subject on its upper face to valve chamber pressure; means for guiding the piston in right-line vertical reciprocation; strike pins extending parallel with said direction of motion and arranged in sliding .engagement with said vent valvedevice to center the same, said pins being so formed that after limited sliding motion they enter thrust engagement to open said vent valve device; av ported partition with air-pervious water resisting seals engaging said strike pins to protect said piston and cylinder; a spring for biasing said valve device in aclosing direction; and a thrust connection of the ball and socket type between said spring and valve device. A

4. The combination defined in claim 3 in which the spring is of the conical spiral type rigidly mounted at its larger end and connected at its smaller end to said ball and socket thrustconnection.

CHARLES `A. CAMPBELL. 

